FPG allowed to hire second inspector

By Jason Tan / Staff Reporter

Fri, Dec 09, 2011 - Page 12

The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday approved Formosa Plastics Group’s (FPG, 台塑集團) plan to hire a second independent supervisory group to speed up the assessment of its petrochemical complex in Mailiao (麥寮), Yunlin County.

FPG plans to recruit Germany’s TUV Rheinland, in addition to its current assessor, Lloyd’s Register Group of the UK, to help inspect overall safety measures at the complex, which has been embroiled in industrial safety incidents since last year after a number of fires.

The ministry said in a statement that it gave the go-ahead after convening a meeting to evaluate TUV Rheinland’s track record.

The ministry said FPG should be careful to oversee how both supervisory groups conduct inspections and collaborate in their duties to enhance the assessment.

Lloyd’s Register has finished inspections of safety loopholes at four Mailiao factories that it began in August, but there are more than 10 other plants where operations must be halted for inspections.

Initial timelines have also been drawn up for inspections of the remaining 30 plants, the statement said.

Hiring TUV Rheinland will ease the burden on the company because operations at many factories will cease during inspections, said FPG, which aims to resume full operations at the complex before August next year.